Specs Appeal

No more four eyes, no more nerds, no more men-seldom-make-passes-at-girls-w ho-wear-glasses. These days half of all Americans wear prescription eyewear, and they have thousands of styles to consider, from the unobtrusive to the bold. Spectacles have moved beyond mere medical hardware to full-fledged fashion accessory. And they aren`t just for the myopic, either, as these frames go both ways, from dark-tinted sunglasses to prescription ones.

This season`s glasses are a matter of extremes--either oversized like Liz Claiborne`s new line or small like Calvin Klein`s `50s retro look. Or a marriage of both in the hot-hot-hot designs of Parisian Alain Mikli, who counts Grace Jones and Ringo Starr among his fans. Mikli`s broad, sweeping shapes suggest `60s Cadillac tail fins. He calls his glasses ``jewelry wearable at any hour of the day.``

Bright jolts of color, insets of reptile or rhinestones and two-tone frames are coming on strong. But preppy looks have resurfaced in modified forms, with the tortoise-wrapped wire ``poor boy`` look like Ralph Lauren`s gaining ground as granny glasses a la John Lennon (some in real gold) make a comeback.

Whatever your preference, shop around. We used estimated prices because they can vary greatly, as much as $60 from store to store. --